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1903 blast focus of Tewksbury historical meeting

TEWKSBURY -- An explosion at an ammunition manufacturer shook the Merrimack Valley in July 1903, leveling parts of Lowell and Tewksbury and shattering windows miles away.

"It really rocked the countryside," said Tewksbury Historical Society President David Marcus. "People at the time came from all over. There was a huge crowd afterward the next day to see the destruction."

With the exact cause of the blast unknown, it was an event that kept people talking at the time.

The conversation picks up again Saturday when the historical society kicks off its annual new members meeting with a presentation on the U.S. Cartridge Co. explosion.

It's one of a series of stories of landmark local disasters to be shared at the free event, Marcus said.

"There are disasters and we learn from disasters," he said. "They happen all the time, unfortunately, but it's interesting, and it's history."

A recent addition to the programming is a talk by a member about working in Tewksbury State Hospital when a tornado came through. It was a story Marcus hadn't heard until the group's last meeting.

"People started talking about it, and I said, "This is exactly the type of thing we want at the meeting," Marcus said.

The group will also screen a film about the Merrimack River flood of 1934, put together by members the Lowell Historical Society.

"We're kind of intertwined with Lowell in this particular event," Marcus said.

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The connection lasts beyond the one meeting: many members are or have been active in the Lowell and Tewksbury Historical Societies.

Like the societies, the histories of the two communities are intertwined, Marcus said, thanks to changing municipal borders. While the U.S. Cartridge Co. explosion took place in what is considered Lowell today, the area was part of Tewksbury at the time.

"I always am surprised that people don't know this, but there were four parts of Tewksbury that were voted out of Tewksbury and into Lowell," Marcus said. "That Belvidere section of Lowell, that's Tewksbury history."

Designed to give newcomers a chance to get to know the society, the new members meeting is open to the public. It's scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Tewksbury Public Library.

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